‘I can see the thinking,’ Levy conceded. ‘Do we know how they all died?’

‘John Doe there had his throat slashed. Ellis a single thrust to the heart. David didn’t notice anything else. And from the positioning of the bodies, it’s likely that Ellis was killed by the same man as Ferris and John Doe. He was barely a step away from Doe, and so – again – a second man would likely have gotten in the way.’

‘So the theory is that one guy does this, basically in one fast, continuous movement?’

‘That’s what we’ve got so far.’

‘And how does Tennant fit into it?’ Levy gestured across the room. ‘He’s not in the same line-up of bodies, so we think there was a second man for him?’

‘Impossible to say yet, ma’am. Could have been. Or the same guy.’

‘Cause of death?’

‘He was killed with that statue over there.’ Hale indicated a large bronze figure on the floor by the body, obscured by what was left of the man it had killed. The one detail Levy had not noticed. ‘It was used to cave in his head. At least three blows.’

Levy looked down at Tennant thoughtfully. The theory made sense if you discounted who the victims were.

‘If you’re right, this looks like a professional hit,’ Levy finally observed. ‘It’s not street-gang violence. Not this clean.’

‘That’s why we were called in, ma’am. Because the Trident boys think the same. They think a rival group brought in a contractor. That sort of thing is outside of their wheelhouse, and so the higher-ups want us on board too.’

‘You mean working alongside Trident? Or instead of them?’

Levy was dreading the answer. Operation Trident was a very different section of the Metropolitan Police, focused entirely on gang crime in London. And from what Levy had experienced of them, the way they worked was a million miles apart from the Major Investigation Team.

‘Working with them,’ Hale replied, his tone almost apologetic.

Levy exhaled deeply and shook her head at the answer. Phillip Longman’s murder had already been a headache. Now this.

Two wholly exceptional murders less than twenty-four hours apart. And now with the added complication of Trident.

For the first time in her career, Levy was worried. This might be more than she could deal with alone.

NINETEEN

Sarah leaned back in her seat. It was a comfortable, mesh design, built to mould around the sitter. Nineteen identical models joined it around the glass conference table. At £400 per chair, the cost was £8,000 just for a room full of reporters to park their backsides in comfort.

And they wonder why network TV can’t turn a profit, Sarah thought.

Only half of the remaining seats were taken. Eight by reporters from the network’s Home Affairs section – Sarah’s section – and the tenth chair by James Elton, Independent Television News’ UK Editor.

Elton’s status placed him at the top of the table. Sarah’s – as ITN’s senior Home Affairs Correspondent – placed her first among the others in the room, in the chair to Elton’s right.